Movie Review: Galaxy Quest (1999)

Synopsis: A group of actors from a long-cancelled science fiction television show called “Galaxy Quest” make a reluctant living speaking at various fan events and ribbon cutting ceremonies. However, a desperate alien race, believing the events in the television series were real, recruits them to help fight off a tyrannical alien foe using a spaceship that was replicated from the series.

Who's in it?

A Surprisingly Good Comedy

I had a little bit of free time earlier today while waiting to go over to our church to help out with a fundraiser and decided to sit down to watch a movie. There wasn’t much that looked all that interesting so I settled on watching this film (and, after seeing bits and pieces of it, my oldest daughter ended up joining me halfway through it).

I’ve seen this particular movie on a number of occasions and, while I know there are some out there that don’t share my opinion, I have always thought this was a surprisingly good movie.

One of the main reasons for this is this film is what I like to refer to as a smart comedy. There’s not a lot of crude jokes or slapstick comedy. Instead, it generates laughs by putting the characters in situations that are well thought out.

A good example of this is when Allen’s character, Jason, is trapped on that alien planet and his chief engineer (Shaloub) has to get him off the planet using a device similar to the transporter on Star Trek. The fact he causes his test subject to turn inside out and explode just made the scene even funnier. My daughter, incidentally, loved the cute (but deadly) aliens that lived on that world. Actually, to tell you the truth, I did too.

Another thing that has always impressed me about this particular movie is how much thought was actually put into the little details. This is especially true of the evil warlord they have to face (played by Robin Sachs). Many comedies would likely have kept things simple with his costume. This one had a costume that was made much more realistic with a variety of moving parts that made him seem much more alive.

Final Opinion

This movie, in my opinion at least, is a bit underrated. It’s a very funny film with a solid ensemble cast and, if you haven’t seen it before, I would recommend giving it a chance.